MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Maryanne Reed, the Dean at WVU’s Reed College of Media, has been named vice president for academic affairs and provost at WVU.
“I’m thrilled for the opportunity,” Reed told MetroNews affiliate WAJR. “It’s a tremendous honor to be chosen for this role. I love WVU. I am really blessed to be here, and it’s just a fantastic place. And I look forward to having the opportunity to have an even greater impact on the university and the state.”
Reed succeeds Joyce McConnell, who left WVU last month to become president of Colorado State. Reed, who described McConnell as “fantastic,” said she was approached with this opportunity after 15 years as dean at the College of Media.
“I had to think about it for a little while,” Reed said. “I love what we do at the College of Media. I love my job here, but I really felt that this was a larger opportunity to serve and to have an impact beyond the College of Media.
And, honestly, when Gordon Gee asks you to do something, it’s hard to say no.”
The Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs is WVU’s chief academic officer, overseeing colleges and academic units, research, and outreach.
Reed said her role is to help execute the president’s vision through innovation — a task her time in the ever-changing landscape of media, she hopes, has her prepared.
“I can’t imagine there being another set of disciplines that changes more rapidly than those that are in media,” she said. “We have to be very adaptive, responsive to changes in the industry, to the changing demands of our students. It’s been a constant evolution.”
Reed, who began her career as a documentarian and broadcast reporter and producer, joined the faculty of the P.I. Reed School of Journalism (no relation) in 1993.
“I hope that I can bring that ability or that knowledge and experience of having to evolve a college or curriculum out of necessity and bring that to the larger level of the university,” she said.
Reed’s appointment is effective July 1.